Cranial Ultrasonography in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Neonatologists' Perspective

Preterm neonates and sick full-term neonates are at risk for brain injury. Although advances in neonatal intensive care have greatly improved the survival and outcome of these 'micro' patients, brain injury remains of major concern. Early diagnosis is important for optimal treatment, and neurological outcome.
Cranial ultrasonography (cUS) is the preferred modality to image the neonatal brain. The advantages of cUS are numerous: it can be performed at the bedside with little disturbance to the infant, it is relatively safe, and can be repeated whenever needed, enabling visualization of ongoing brain maturation and the evolution of lesions. However, cUS also has several limitations: quality of imaging depends on the skills and experience
of the ultrasonographer, some areas of the brain are difficult to visualize, and several abnormalities remain beyond its scope. In this paper, we discuss the applications and indications of neonatal cUS. We briefly describe the standard procedure and general informations.